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U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday called for Secretary of State John Kerry to present administration policy for "rolling back" the Islamic State's (IS) gains, after the rampaging group claimed it beheaded a second American, AFP reports.

With members of the House and Senate warning that President Barack Obama has not done enough to combat the extremist group, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said he was summoning Kerry to testify once Congress returns next week from its recess.

"Everyone agrees that the administration needs a strategy, that the president has to explain to the American people and explain to Congress how we are going to meet this threat," the Republican Royce told reporters on a phone call from Israel, where he was on a congressional mission.

He said he expected Kerry to present a plan for "rolling back ISIS," using the old name for the Islamic State which it used before it declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria it captured.

Obama last week came under fire when he said he had “no strategy” to deal with the IS threat.

Washington had to rush to defend Obama's comments the next day, clarifying at a press conference that its options are "still under review."

 “The president hasn't yet laid out a specific plan for military action in Syria,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. “And the reason for that is simply that the Pentagon is still developing that plan and he is still reviewing it.”

“The president was candid about the fact that the Pentagon is still reviewing options that may be available to him,” he added.

Republican lawmakers have already called for more aggressive U.S. action to defeat IS, accusing Obama of policies that have failed to thwart potential new threats on U.S. soil.